Prolific country cutup Grizzard (You Can't Put No Boogie Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll, 1991, etc.) turns a little ill-tempered in this year's offering. Grizzard's angry and he's not going to take political correctness anymore. Any jeremiad against the ``speech police,'' as he calls them, is welcome, of course, but the humorist is slightly strident and pretty offensive as he presents a maundering, maudlin defense of his own beloved Culture, that of the Straight Southern White Male. That means considerable puerile admiration of feminine breasts (big ones) and masculine ``Johnsons'' (of any size), of pickup trucks and beer bellies. It means hatred of ``bus station queers,'' Yankees, and wimpy ``pissants.'' (For the record, let it be noted that the author is skinny, doesn't hunt, and was a member of the Key Club in high school.) Jane Fonda, the Reverends Al and Jesse, and all of New Jersey seem to blight Gizzard's waking thoughts, while his only comforts are Goo-Goo candy bars, the Grand Ole Opry, and the philosophy of Pat Buchanan. ``Anybody who don't like Hank Williams can kiss my ass'' is his theme, and that goes for the reader or anybody else Grizzard chooses. He goes on at length about ``white trash'' and why he doesn't belong in that sorry category, and there's a heartfelt (as in country-western lyrics) tribute to rednecks. The text is readable enough, e.g., in the case of Aunt Jillie, who ``talked fifty miles an hour with gusts up to seventy.'' There are no hard words. But, on the whole, the humor is nasty. Wisely, the author tour won't go north of the Mason-Dixon Line: Robert E. Lee would spin in his grave if Grizzard's antics were taken at face value. This Georgia peach is getting a bit soft in spots. He gives more umbrage than he takes.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-679-40685-9
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Villard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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